


Carpet Burns and Carousels

by tbmd1066



Series: Carpet Burns and Carousels [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magic Revealed, Mention of attempted suicide, Merlin is sometimes wrong about what Arthur's thinking, Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Post-Episode: s02e03 The Nightmare Begins, Pre-Slash, you must analyze him yourself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24395095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tbmd1066/pseuds/tbmd1066
Summary: This was the best chance Merlin was going to get, and he knew it. Arthur had been training late into the afternoon and was now relaxing after his favourite dinner. The fire was burning warm in the hearth, lighting across Arthur's hair in that way Merlin liked so much. They were sitting together, sharing a bottle of wine that Arthur liked and Merlin didn't, and the witch's words floated to the forefront of Merlin's mind."You will know when it is your last chance."
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Carpet Burns and Carousels [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769542
Comments: 23
Kudos: 536





	Carpet Burns and Carousels

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't mean to write nearly 5,000 words of this, but I'm still paying for Grammarly, even though school's over, so fuck it.
> 
> Disclaimer: I haven't actually watched Merlin in at least four years so I'm relying on other people's fic and the brief glance at the wiki I did. I do not intend to rewatch the series.

Merlin had many hopes in life. He hoped for a fair and just kingdom, for love, for freedom. Right now, he was mainly hoping that someday Arthur would learn not to antagonize crazy old witches he met in the woods. 

At least she didn't seem to be posing much of a threat. She'd simply dodged all of Arthur and the knight's attacks by dematerializing and reappearing somewhere else. She was now sitting atop a tree branch and was laughing too hard to get through her sentences. 

"Haa... ha, such fun! Your determination is most invigorating, young prince, but I still cannot let you pass."

"And why not?!" Arthur shouted up at her, flushed red with anger. Merlin glanced at the knights around them, with their swords drawn and pointing up at the sorceress. She seemed unperturbed. 

"Because," she smiled. "I have a warning about your future." If ever there was a sentence designed to get Merlin's attention.

"And why on _earth_ should I believe you?"

"Because you've not eaten a blackberry in almost two years." 

It was an absolutely insane thing to say. Still, evidently, it meant something to Arthur, as he immediately went white as a sheet. 

"That's..." 

"Which means that you are kind."

Merlin knew Arthur didn't care for blackberries. Whenever they were brought with his breakfast, he'd leave them on the plate. Merlin ought to have mentioned it to the cook, but Arthur hadn't asked him to, and Merlin liked blackberries, so if he stole them on his way back to the kitchens with the dishes, he didn't see the issue. And he couldn't imagine why it mattered to this witch.

"Sire," Leon spoke up. "Perhaps we can find another way through."

"Sir Leon, it's rude to interrupt." said the witch. She then did precisely what Merlin had been hoping she wouldn't do. She turned to address him.

"My warning is for you." her face grew serious, and she disappeared from the tree only to stand about an inch away from Merlin. 

"You said it was for the prince," Merlin argued.

"I said it was _about_ the prince!" she corrected. "It's for you."

Merlin could see the knights coming closer with their swords. If he wanted to hear this warning, it had to be fast. "After you tell me, you'll let us go on?"

She nodded.

"Right, then."

"Merlin!" Arthur protested. Merlin shrugged, hoping that Arthur would let her speak since the woman hadn't done anything dangerous. 

"The future doesn't exist." the witch said. 

Merlin stared at her. "What?"

"The past was real, and the present is real, but the future does not exist. It hasn't happened yet and thus is shaped by what we do. Prophecies and visions only see possibilities of the future. Their purpose is to warn us and to help us make good choices. You have a decision coming up. If you choose wrong, Albion shall never be, and all shall end in tragedy. You've had many chances to make this choice, but before long, it will be too late." 

"What do you mean?"

"You must tell him." 

Merlin's mouth went dry. There was only one thing she could mean. His eyes darted over to Arthur before he could help it. Unfortunately, Arthur misread his look and signalled his knights.

"How will I know when it's too late?" Merlin asked quickly.

"That I can help with," said the witch. "Þú setnes ġefeoht þa sé éower hindema anginn." her eyes flashed.

_You will know when it is your last chance._

And she vanished.

* * *

She was right. Merlin did know the moment. Over the last couple of months since meeting the witch, Arthur knowing was all he could think about. Merlin imagined how it would just... happen. They would be up against some beast in the wilderness; he would have to use magic in front of Arthur, or some evil sorcerer would be seeking revenge and Merlin would put a heroic end to their plot. It would be exciting, and Arthur would see and realize everything Merlin had done for him. Most importantly, they wouldn't have to _talk._

No such luck, it seemed. 

But if they had to talk, this was the best chance Merlin was going to get, and he knew it. Arthur had been training late into the afternoon and was now relaxing after his favourite dinner. The fire was burning warm in the hearth, lighting across Arthur's hair in that way Merlin liked so much. They were sitting together, sharing a bottle of wine that Arthur liked and Merlin didn't, and the witch's words floated to the forefront of Merlin's mind. 

_You will know when it is your last chance._

Now or never. Merlin knew why. Morgana's magic was growing, and arguing with Kilgarrah wasn't doing anything to help her. He had to make a decision about it. Merlin had tried sending her to the druids, which was an absolute fiasco. If he wanted to help Morgana, he'd have to do it himself. Teaching Morgana magic would be risky, but Merlin had to decide. However, if he chose wrong, he'd be risking everything. Merlin knew that whatever he decided, he didn't _want_ to keep going behind Arthur's back. He wanted Arthur to know him more desperately than anything.

"You alright?" Arthur asked. Merlin's head jerked up, eyes darting away from the fireplace. 

_You will know when it is your last chance._

It would be so much easier to just laugh it off, say he was tired, bid Arthur goodnight, go to bed. Surely it wasn't _really_ the last moment, was it? There would be other times, safer times, surely.

"Merlin?"

But if he chickened out now, would he ever have the strength to say it?

"I...I have to tell you something." Merlin's voice came out half-strangled, his throat so tense he could barely get the words out. 

"Is this about what that witch said to you?" Arthur frowned. Merlin nodded. 

Arthur sighed and rubbed at the space between his eyebrows the way he did when he was forced to deal with something annoying. "Look, Merlin, I know you're..." he hesitated, and Merlin's heart stopped. "A private sort of fellow." Merlin was relieved, but his hands were still shaking. "You _can_ tell me anything, but if you don't want to, that's fine." 

"I do want to tell you." 

"Really? But you hate talking about yourself." 

"What?"

"You may never shut up, Merlin, but you never talk about yourself." Arthur shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Of course I want to know about you, but you shouldn't force yourself just because some crazy witch-"

"She wasn't crazy, she was right." Merlin took a deep breath. "I have to tell you. I just...I don't want to risk losing your friendship, and I know that you don't usually want to admit we are friends, but you're the most important person in the world to me." 

Arthur smiled. 

"And you're right, I don't talk about myself, but it isn't because I don't want to. I want you to know me." 

Arthur reached out across the table and took Merlin's hand. It was a gentle, solid comfort. "Go on, then."

_You will know when it is your last chance._

It was now. The moment when Merlin would either lose Arthur forever or stride forward to create Albion. He couldn't go back anymore. 

"I have magic."

For a minute, the room was silent. Just Merlin's heart pounding in his ears and a dreadful queasiness he was battling. He squeezed his eyes shut, but he wasn't sure whether it was helping or not.

"No..." He waited for Arthur to pull his hand away, but it didn't happen. "No, Merlin! Do you have any idea how dangerous-Why-Merlin, _what_ could be worth practicing magic?!"

Merlin opened his eyes so that he could stare at Arthur. "What do you mean?"

Arthur looked terrified. Or perhaps he was angry. "I don't know if it's escaped your notice, but magic is illegal, and for a good reason!" he ran a hand through his hair, his eyes wild. "Magic is dangerous, Merlin!" his grip tightened on Merlin's hand as he stood from his chair. 

Merlin gawked at Arthur, confused by the intensity in his face. "I don't understa-"

Arthur let go of Merlin's hand, finally, only to grab him by the shoulders. "I won't lose you!"

Merlin beamed at him. "Of course you won't." he stood and pulled Arthur into a tight hug. Hugging Arthur was something that happened so rarely. It was usually just an arm slung over Merlin's shoulder in knightly camaraderie. Having Arthur wrap his arms around his shoulders and being allowed to bury his face in the prince's neck was an experience Merlin hadn't had before.

"We'll fix this, I promise. You won't have to be afraid." 

Merlin was soaring. This was far better than any of the daydreams he'd had over the last few months. Arthur actually understood! Someday they would repeal the ban on magic together, Merlin would be free to let his magic loose, and Albion would rise as the greatest-

"Magic corrupts people, but I won't let that happen to you, I swear!"

Oh. 

Merlin pulled away from Arthur. "You mean...getting rid of my magic?"

"If that's what we have to do, then yes. We can figure it out."

Merlin shook his head. "I was born with Magic, Arthur. It's part of me."

Arthur's eyes widened. "That's not possible."

"It's true. My mum named me Merlin because I was born with my eyes glowing gold."

Arthur practically fell back into his chair. 

"Merlins are a kind of falcon, so they've got yellow-"

"Yeah, I get that." Arthur snapped. Merlin sat down as well and took a sip from his wine glass. It still tasted shitty and made him feel uncomfortably warm. "People can be... _born_ having magic?" Arthur asked. His brow wrinkled, and his eyes were wide and distant. 

"Yes. It doesn't corrupt people, Arthur. Not any more than any other kind of power, at least." Merlin leaned back, wondering if the analogy he wanted to use was too risky. Looking at the bewilderment on Arthur's face, he decided to risk it. "You're the crown prince. One day you'll be king, and that's not really a choice you get to make. You'll have that power whether you want it or not. But, you do get to decide what kind of king you'll be. You could be a greedy tyrant, or a warmonger, or a classist prick. That would be easy, sure. But you can also choose to help people with that power." Merlin smiled. "Like I know you will. Magic can be used for evil very easily. But it can be used for good, too." 

Merlin could see the gears buzzing a million leagues an hour in Arthur's head. His eyes darted from Merlin to the table, to the floor as he thought. 

"Merlin...why did you come to Camelot?" he asked, fixing his gaze on the mage in front of him. "I remember why you said you had to leave home, but if you were born with magic, why the hell would you come _here_ of all places?"

"Er..." Merlin ducked his head. "That's a long story."

"So?"

He sighed. "It's not pleasant."

"All the more reason to hear it." Arthur pressed.

"Whatever happened to 'you don't have to tell me if you don't want to'?" Merlin huffed. 

"That was before." Arthur poured them both a second goblet of wine. "Tell me."

Merlin stared at the wine in his goblet; It looked like something else, something that made his stomach turn. He looked back at Arthur, trying to think of a way to tell him that wouldn't be as awful as the truth had the audacity to be. 

He wasn't sure he could.

"Best to just have at it then, I suppose," he muttered. "Like I said, I was born with magic. I could move objects before I could talk."

"Don't sorcerers have to say incantations to cast spells?" Arthur interrupted.

"Er, yes. But doing magic isn't always casting spells. For me...I _am_ magic. It was instinctual, and I couldn't stop doing it any more than I could stop breathing." It was ironic, Merlin thought. He could barely breathe now. "My magic was how I saw the world. I could see..." he tried to remember. "I could see the life in things. I would know things without having to look. I wasn't so clumsy." he tried to swallow around the bitterness swelling in the back of his throat.

"What changed?"

"My mother always told me to keep it hidden. That it wasn't safe for people to know. But...I was _always_ using magic. I know you've seen sorcerers' eyes glow when they use magic; it's a pretty obvious tell." Arthur nodded. "My eyes used to always glow. Always. I wound up having a pretty sheltered childhood. Mum was terrified when I made friends with Will."

"But he was a sorcerer too." Merlin winced. "Oh. You made that whirlwind."

"Yup." 

"He was protecting you."

"Yes."

"From me."

Merlin's chest tightened. "Arthur..."

"No, it's fine. I didn't mean to interrupt. Go on with your story." Arthur took a sip from his wine glass. Merlin wanted to get rid of the look on the prince's face, so he went on. 

"Well, um, when I made friends with Will, obviously he knew. I remember trying to play it off, as though glowing gold was just a normal eye colour for most people to have." 

"So, you've always been a rubbish liar."

Merlin laughed. "I suppose I have." he and Arthur smiled at each other. "Will was the one who told me what happens to sorcerers in Camelot. Ealdor is in Essetir, but it's right on the border, so still not the safest." Merlin felt the prickle of tears in his nose, and he stared resolutely at the fire. "I was seven when I found out that people wanted me dead." his voice cracked. 

"Merlin..."

Merlin cleared his throat. "So, I decided I'd stop being magic."

"I take it that didn't work." 

"Not entirely, no. I couldn't get rid of my magic. I didn't even have anyone to teach me about it, but...I figured out how to close it off. Suppress it." Just thinking about it made the hum of his magic press against Merlin's ribs, aching to be let out. "It felt like dying. Like I was holding my breath and suffocating, and it took years. I couldn't close it all off. My eyes stopped glowing constantly, but I could still use magic, and I would, instinctually. I couldn't control it, which meant I still wasn't safe." he could go right into coming to Gaius here if he wanted to. Part of him did want to, however, sparing Arthur the knowledge of how awful it had gotten wouldn't make things better. He'd spent too long telling Arthur half-truths and leaving out the rest. He wanted Arthur to know him. 

"I didn't understand why I had all this power if I was just supposed to bottle it up. If I was fated to die from the moment I was born, I didn't see a point in living."

He didn't want to look at Arthur. He could hear him gasp and didn't need magic to know Arthur was horror-stricken without seeing. He knew his king well enough. 

"When Will caught me, he told my mum, and she wrote to Gaius asking if I could become his apprentice. He was the only mage she knew of that had survived the Purge. I came to Camelot to see if I could find a way to control my magic. Of course, I knew it was dangerous; I just didn't care. I was already certain I would die, whether it was from the lack of magic destroying me or by my own hand." he gripped the sleeve of his jacket. "The threat of being executed didn't really scare me."

"You're shaking." Arthur murmured. Merlin shook his head, even though he could feel the shudders pulsing through his whole body every few seconds. 

"I'm fine. You probably have more questions than you did before."

"Are you fine?" 

He had to think about that one. He could understand why Arthur was concerned. Revealing himself as a sorcerer to the crown prince of Camelot perhaps wasn't the best indicator of mental stability. "I'm better." he shrugged. "I have control of my magic, and I have hope. You're going to be an amazing king, whatever you decide about me and magic...I know it." he smiled. "My hope is that I can be there to protect and guide you."

"You would have me revoke the ban on magic?" Arthur looked more stressed than Merlin had ever seen him. And Merlin had seen him get stabbed more than once. He could see a vein standing out under the prince's fringe. 

"That's up to you. You're a man of strong convictions, your highness. You do what you believe is right."

"How am I supposed to do that if I don't know what's right anymore, Merlin?" Arthur stood and began pacing. "I mean, it's not like I've never considered that magic can be used for good, or that people with the best intentions could be tempted by it..." he paused in his pacing. "I've always known that magic is a wicked force that corrupts people and condemns them to evil. But if you've had magic your entire life, then..." 

"Then, it isn't?"

"Then, my father has executed thousands of innocent people." the prince looked like he was about to fall over, or be sick. Merlin hurried to his side and sat him down on the edge of the bed. Arthur stared up at Merlin. "He would kill you."

Merlin knelt. "Someday, you'll have to make a choice about your stance on magic. For now, there isn't much you can do. For now... you just have to decide about me." 

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Merlin smiled wistfully. "I'm a criminal, Arthur. If you believe the law to be just, it's your duty to uphold it."

Arthur was silent. 

"Even if you do decide that you can accept my magic, I've still done a lot of things while trying to protect you that aren't legal, strictly speaking. I mean, killing sorcerers is legal, especially if they're trying to kill members of the royal family, but it's still murder. And with the amount of sneaking around I've had to do there's been a lot of breaking and entering, knocking out knights, setting fires as distractions-"

"Merlin!" 

"Look, fire is a very responsive element, it's not always completely intentional-"

"Merlin, stop!" Arthur snapped. "Fuck, do you _want_ me to..." his voice cracked. Neither of them needed him to finish his sentence.

Merlin smiled bitterly. He wasn't sure how much longer he could bear seeing this look in Arthur's eyes. "No. But you should still know about it all. My magic is for you, sire. No matter what you decide, I will respect your decision." About that much longer, evidently. "I'd try to give you advice, but I'm pretty biased towards the 'keep Merlin's secret and let him live' option." Arthur laughed, but there wasn't any real humour in it. "But it's important to me that you make this decision yourself. Don't let the fact that it's me make you go against what you think is right."

"But the fact that it's _you_ matters! I trust you. Coming from someone else, I don't know if I could believe all of this." Arthur flopped backwards onto his mattress, staring up at the canopy. "I just...I can't-I need to think." 

"I can go if you need space to-"

"No, no!" Arthur propped himself up on his elbows to look at his manservant, still kneeling on the floor. "Er..." he cleared his throat. "I mean, I may have questions. While I'm thinking. You should stay."

Well, Merlin smiled; if he couldn't see through that one, he was an idiot indeed. "Very well, sire." he sat next to Arthur. "I'll just be here then." 

It usually wasn't a good idea to let Arthur stew in his own head. Arthur was a genuinely decent man, which unfortunately meant he was the sort who could make himself miserable through over-thinking. There had been far too many times when Merlin had seen him standing at his window, staring out into the distance and pondering things. It wasn't good for him to stay in his head, cycling through worries over and over. Merlin had long since adopted the habit of annoying Arthur while he thought in order to make the prince voice his thoughts. 

Habits like that are hard to break.

"Merlin, if you don't stop bouncing your leg, I'll send you to muck out the stables."

"But-" 

"I don't care how late it is."

Merlin laughed as quietly as he could and waited.

"Where does magic come from?" 

The fact that Merlin had expected Arthur to speak did not prepare him for the actual question.

"Er, I'm not sure."

"Ugh, fat load of use you are, then."

"Well, it's a big question!" the mage sputtered. "Plus, _someone's_ father burned all the books about magic, so how am I supposed to look up the varying theologies about it?"

"Right." Arthur groaned. "But how do people get magic? And why? Is it random, or are they chosen? And if they are, what or who chooses them?"

"Okay, slow down!" Merlin stared back at Arthur. He didn't know what to do with all of the questions flying at him; they were things he had wondered about, too, of course, but he really didn't know the answers. He sighed and leaned down to take his boots off. "I don't know much about the Old Religion, but I assume it has the answers to these questions. I know that magic can be inherited, from father to son, for example."

"Was your father a sorcerer?"

Merlin lay back on the bed, shuffling onto his side to face Arthur. "Yeah. That's why he came to Ealdor. He was from Camelot, and he and my mother met while he was fleeing." 

Arthur nodded somberly. "Was he..." 'killed,' 'caught,' 'executed.' Merlin wasn't sure what word Arthur would have ended the sentence with. Maybe Arthur wasn't sure, either.

"No, but people were looking for him. He left to keep going north. My mum wanted to go with him, but he thought it'd be safer for her in Ealdor." Merlin sighed. "She said once if they'd known about me sooner, everything might have been different."

"That would have been better for both of you, surely." 

"Being considered a demon's bastard wasn't a great way to grow up, I admit, but it brought me to you, so..." Merlin smiled. "I don't regret it. I wouldn't change my past." 

"To me?" Arthur raised his eyebrows.

"You're the one who gave meaning to my life. I said my magic was for you, and I meant it. My purpose is to protect you, and guide you to uniting the lands of Albion, to help you become the greatest king the world will ever know." Merlin couldn't help noticing the firelight was behind Arthur again. It danced in the hearth, crowning the Once and Future King in silhouette, but Merlin could still see the wideness of his eyes and the way his lips were parted just slightly in shock. "But you know, don't go getting a fat head about it, sire."

Arthur laughed. It was the best sound in the world. "You're ridiculous, you know that?" 

"Yeah, well..." Merlin looked away. "If you really want to know about all the intricate minutia of magic, we could try asking the druids.

Arthur snorted. "After the stunt they pulled with Morgana, I'm not so sure I trust the druids."

Ah, yes. Arthur was still under the impression that Morgana had been kidnapped. Merlin frowned up at the canopy over Arthur's bed. He couldn't have cocked that one up much worse. Rather than quietly sending Morgana away from Uther's witch-hunt, he'd turned Arthur against the druids and gotten a man killed. 

"So, about that." he began.

Arthur shuffled closer, no doubt recognizing the tone of Merlin's voice. "What did you do?" he asked sternly.

Merlin didn't want to start this off by answering that question since what he had done was nothing short of cowardly. Maybe avoiding the question was as well, but starting in the middle would be confusing. It had been a difficult evening, and as soon as he started in on what was happening with Morgana, it would only get worse. 

Merlin sat up, tugging at Arthur's wrist until they were sitting facing each other, so close on the bed that their knees brushed together.

"You know the nightmares Morgana's been having?"

Arthur nodded.

"They're more than just bad dreams. They come true."

The prince tensed. "What does that mean?" 

Merlin took Arthur's hands. It was hard enough finding out Merlin had magic, but Morgana had been like a sister to Arthur for more than a decade. 

"She's a seer. She set the fire in her chambers herself." 

Arthur looked at him with wild confusion. "What? Why?"

"It was an accident."

"Morgana's a sorcerer?!"

"She has magic. Like I do. It's just shown up much later."

"Does everyone I know secretly have magic?"

"I mean, Gaius was a wizard, but you knew that." 

"Merlin..." Arthur groaned. 

"She's alone." Merlin tightened his grip on Arthur's hands. "She needs to be taught how to control her powers, or else things like the fire will keep happening, and Uther will keep looking for someone to blame." The two men sitting together on the bed stared at each other. "That's why I sent her to the druids." 

"What?"

"I...I could have taught her myself, but I was afraid." If Arthur held Merlin's hands any tighter, he was going to break something. Merlin looked down at them. "I was afraid to risk myself, and now she's alone, and she's scared."

"Morgana's not scared of anything." Arthur protested. 

"Not even the king?" Merlin asked gently. He couldn't look at Arthur; the silence after his question was too heavy. 

"My father loves Morgana; he wouldn't hurt her."

"Are you sure?"

Arthur's knuckles were white, his thumbs pressed red marks into the back of Merlin's hand. 

"Merlin, how do I even know that her learning to control her magic is a good thing? All I've seen of magic is how it's used to hurt people. I don't..." his voice cracked. "I don't want to lose either of you." 

"You won't."

"Oh, really? If she learns magic, she's at risk. If she doesn't learn magic, she's at risk. You're both in danger, and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Not right now, maybe." It would be a long time before he was safe, and that was only if Arthur repealed the ban on magic when he became king, which was still a big if. "You haven't seen magic used for good because most of the people who are willing to risk their lives breaking the law are those who have already lost everything. They're broken and hurting, which is why they keep trying to kill you and your father." he pulled Arthur's hands close to his own chest. "But let me show you-and Morgana-what magic is really like. When it's used for beauty and protection and-" ' _love._ ' he just barely stopped himself from saying. That was a whole other conversation that certainly didn't need to happen that night. They were so close, though, and holding hands so tightly. Had the firelight been this romantic the whole evening? "Let me show you what magic can do, Arthur. Let me show you who I am."

Arthur nodded. 

A second hug in one evening was a risky gambit with the prince, but it was worth it. "Thank you," whispered Merlin, tears flooding his eyes. 

"We can go tomorrow, have lunch with Morgana." Arthur pulled back. 

Merlin cleared his throat. "That sounds great." he beamed at Arthur and couldn't mistake the way the prince flushed. It was awfully warm, now that Merlin thought about it. 

"Yes, I have a meeting with Leon in the morning, so I expect you to get me up on time." Arthur clambered off the bed and turned to Merlin. "Don't just sit there, Merlin. It's late, and far past when you ought to have got me ready for bed. Don't think just because I know you're a sorcerer you can get out of doing your job."

Merlin wiped the tears off of his face. "Of course, _sire._ " 

The relief that came with the normalcy was unbelievable. Merlin got Arthur dressed for bed, same as always, putting him in his nightshirt despite knowing that he'd just toss it on the floor as soon as Merlin left. He put out the fire, leaving a single candle on Arthur's bedside table. 

"Will there be anything else, sire?" he asked.

"No, Merlin, that's all." he could hear Arthur's smile in the dark. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night, Arthur."

"Good night."

Merlin was halfway back to Gaius's before he realized he'd forgotten to put his boots back on.

**Author's Note:**

> Some thoughts:  
> I just realized these boys are younger than I am at this point, so that's wild.  
> If anyone wants to correct my Old English, please do.  
> How much time passes during and between seasons?
> 
> I may write more of this. As I said, I am paying for Grammarly, but if I do write Merlin teaching Morgana magic I'm using my D&D theories of magic because I cannot be arsed to actually figure out canon mechanics and I still do not intend to rewatch the series. Too sad.
> 
> Title is from The Amazing Devil's song "Fair," which is not particularly reflective of this fic, but of Merlin/Arthur in general.


End file.
